Muhlenbergia capillaris

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Muhlenbergia capillaris
Muhl capi.jpg
Photo by John R. Gwaltney, Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Tracheophyta- Vascular plants
Class: Lilianeae -Monocotyledons
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Muhlenbergia
Species: M. capillaris
Binomial name
Muhlenbergia capillaris
(Lam.) Trin.
Muhl capi dist.jpg
Natural range of Muhlenbergia capillaris from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common names: Hairawn muhly

Taxonomic notes

Synonym: Muhlenbergia capillaris (Lam.) Trin. var. capillaris

Description

"Perennials. Blades usually scaberulous on both surfaces and margins; sheath margins scarious, at least apically; ligules scarious, erose or erose-ciliate. Spikelets 1-flowered. Glumes equaling or shorter than lemmas, lemmas not indurate. Grain enclosed by lemma and palea at maturity." [1]

"Cespitose perennial; culms 5-12 dm tall, nodes and internodes glabrous. Leaves primarily basal; blades flat or involute, to 3 dm long, 103 mm wide; sheaths scaberulous; ligules 2-5 mm long. Panicle open, diffuse, delicate, 2-5 dm long, 1-2 dm broad; branches capillary, spreading, scaberulous. Spikelets usually purplish, lanceolate to narrowly ellipsoid, 4-5 mm long excluding awn; pedicels capillary, spreading, scaberulous. Glumes usually 1-nerved, usually scaberulous on midrib, scarious, 1st glume body 0.3-1.2 mm long, awn 0.3-1.2 mm long, 2nd glume body 1-1.5 mm long, awn 1-1.5 mm long; lemmas purplish, 3-nerved, scaberulous, body 3-4 mm long, awns 3-12 mm long; paleas purplish, faintly nerved, acuminate, 3-4 mm long. Grain purplish, narrowly ellipsoid, 2-2.4 mm long." [1]

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

M. capillaris responds negatively to soil disturbance by agriculture in Southwest Georgia.[2] It also responds positively or not at all to soil disturbance by roller chopping in South Florida.[3]

Muhlenbergia capillaris var. trichopodes is frequent and abundant in the Clayhill Longleaf Woodlands and Lower Panhandle Savannas community types as described in Carr et al. (2010).[4]

Phenology

M. capillaris has been observed flowering in September and October.[5]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by gravity. [6]

Conservation and management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 107. Print.
  2. Kirkman, L.K., K.L. Coffey, R.J. Mitchell, and E.B. Moser. Ground Cover Recovery Patterns and Life-History Traits: Implications for Restoration Obstacles and Opportunities in a Species-Rich Savanna. (2004). Journal of Ecology 92(3):409-421.
  3. Lewis, C.E. (1970). Responses to Chopping and Rock Phosphate on South Florida Ranges. Journal of Range Management 23(4):276-282.
  4. Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
  5. Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 12 DEC 2016
  6. Kirkman, L. Katherine. Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.